Knife for hullers



May 17, 1932. Q 5|MMON$ 1,858,527"

KNIFE FOR HULLERS Filed Sept. 27, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet -l l J 7 ---/A9 gZLMMWaJ ATTORNEJYS May. 17 1932. o. G. SIMMONS Filed Sept. 27, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OLIVER e. smmons, or LAKEWOOD, onro, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL roozrr coM- .I-ANY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION or OHIO V KNIFE r'oR HULLERS Application filed September.27,19 27." Serial No. 222,250. I i

manufacture as compared with the types of cific'nature.

Those'familiar with the art,- to which this invention relates, are aware of the necessary upkeep pertinent to hullers due to the replacing of the knives of both the cylinder and the concave." This is primarily due to the fact thattheknives can only be used for a very short period of time before the usual four cutting edges of the knife become dull, and it is not practical to resharpen the knives inasmuch as a new knife can be purchased 7 as cheaply as the sharpening operation. 'It is, therefore important that these replacement knives be manufactured as cheaply as possible so as to eliminate, as muchas possiknives now employed in hullers of this speble, the upkeep inconnection with the huller.

The grooves in the cylinder and the con- 26 cave of the huller for receiving the knives are of a predetermined depth and it has been necessary heretofore to provide knives of a depth in excess of the depth of the grooves. Inasmuch as these knives are made of tool 0 steel, which is expensive, it is one of the primary objects of the present invention to provide a knife suitable for replacement in these hullers which requires only about rd of the quantity of tool steel heretofore required in producing these knives, and it will therefore be readily seen that the cost in connection with the production of these knives is materially decreased,which results in a material decrease in price to the owner of the huller and thereby materially reduces the upkeep in' connection-with these hulle'rs. This reduction of material is made possible by the employment of a filler or backer member of inexpensive material positioned at-the base of the recesses against which theknife is adapted to. abut. This filler or backer-member is made of sufficient depth to properly position the knife adjacent the cutting are so that the huller performs asefiiciently as 50 heretofore. i I

A further object of the invention is-to pro- I vide an improved manner'of' retaining the knives within the grooves of the. cylinder and concave which includes providing'the knives. with a pair of longitudinally extending grooves or recesses properly positioned upon opposite sides of the knife. In view of the fact that these knives are provided with four cutting edges so that the same maybe reversed, end for end, it is essential that these longitudinally extending grooves or recesses be positioned a definite distance with respect to the cutting edge of the knife. WVith the objects above indicated andother objects hereinafter explained in view, my invention consists in the construction and combination of elements hereinafter described and claimed. Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is an elevational view, partly in section, showing the relationship between the cylinder and the concave of a huller with the knives in their respective grooves, and means for retaining the knives, within the grooves; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a plurality of knives showing the clip for retaining the knives within the grooves; j

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the relationship between the knives of the cylinder and concave and showing the relative position of the backer members with respect to the knives,

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of one of the knives showing the position of the longitu- I dinally extending grooves; and v 'Fig. 5 is an end view of the'knife'shown inFig.4. Y

In the drawings, 10 indicates the cylinder of a huller supported upon a'transverse shaft 11 and adapted to be rotatedabout the axis of the shaft 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow. The concave 12 is shown posit-ioned'adjacent the cylinder 10 and is suitably secured to the frame work of the huller.

It is not thought necessaryto illustrate any of the parts of the huller aside from the cylinder lOandconcave 12 inasmuchas the invention' does notrelate to any'parts of the huller other than those illustrated. The cyli inder is provided with a plurality of transversely extending grooves 13 suitably spaced apart, and disposed in the grooves 13 are a plurality of knives 14. These knives 14 (composed of tool steel) ordinarily occupy the entire groove 13 which requires that the knives be made a predetermined depth so that the cutting edge of the knives will project outwardly beyond the cylinder a predetermined distance so as to function as a cutter in association with the adjacent knives in the concave 12.

In order, therefore, to reduce theamount of tool steel required to produce these knives, and yet not impair their effectiveness and efliciency, I provide atthe base of each of the recesses ldfiller or backer members 15 ofa depth sufiicient to properlyposition the cutting" edge of the reduced knife in proper cuttingposition, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The knives .each provided with a pair of longitudinally extending grooves 16 disposed upon opposite sides thereof throughout the entire length of the knife. At suitable positions along the periphery of the cylinder are a plurality of recesses 17 clearly shown in Fig. 1. Adjacent the side of the knife 14 in the direction of rotation of the cylinder 10 and extending inwardly from these recesses 17 are threaded openings 18 adapted to receive bolts'l9 which securely clamp, substantially rectangularly shaped plates 20 within the recesses 17 The ends of these plates 20 are adaptedto engage with the inner or lower longitudinally extending grooves 16 of the knives 14 to such an extent that when the bolts 19 are turned up tightly within the openings 18, the knives 14are securely clamped within the grooves 13 Qfthe cylinder 10and against the edge-of hegroove in opposition to the direction of rotation of the cylinder 10.;

The concave 12 is similarly provided with a plurality; of these grooves 13 adapted to receive the in the 11 ve l4an -each of. th

kniv s re adapted to abut the filler or backer members 15, as clearly shown in [F ig, 1. These knives 14 are also secured within the grooves 13 of the concave 12by bolts 19 engaging screw-threaded openings; 18 in the concave 12, and the plates 20are adapted to berigidly secured in engagement with one of the longitudinally extending grooves-16 of the knife 14, asheretofore explained.

It will be understood that these knives 14 are provided with four longitudinally extending cutting'edges so that they may be reversedwithin thegrooves 13, end for end, or frontfor back,'-,so that all four edges may beernpl v d- It sthe oranec ssary t a the longitudinally extending grooves 16 of the-knives 14 be positionedsuch a manner that the plates2O will-engage each of the gro ves and ecur lyreta n the knif Within their-recess depndins pon he ut ing edge being in pera ion. Y j Y extending In Fig. 2 I have shown the knives 14 made up in three sections, although any number of sections may be employed, but it will be noted that the rectangularly shaped plates 20 are adapted to su tably engage the longitudinally extending grooves 16 of theknife 14 substantially throughout its entire length which results in greater contacting engagement between the plates 20 and the grooves 16 of the knives so as to moresecurely hold the knives 14 within the grooves 13.

It will, therefore, be noted that I have materially lessened the quantity of material previously required in manufacturing knives for use in connection with hullers, and have further provided a new manner inwhich the knives are secured within the grooves ofthe cylinder 10 andthe concave 12,,and inview of the formerthe expense in connection with the production of these knives is materially lessened and thecost to the owners ofthe hullers for replacing these knives islikewise materially lessened, thereby reducing to a considerable extent the upkeep in-connection Withthe hullers.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A knifefor hullers and the like of the type having acylinder and a concave provid ed with knife grooves comprising arelatively flat metallic bar .of rectangular cross sec tion having cutting edges .extending; along the longitudinal edges thereof and of a width shorter than the depthof the knife grooves in the cylinder and concave. whereby when the knife. is secured-,in..position in a knife groove withits cutting edge properly exposed it will not reach the bottomof the groove, said metallic bar having a-pair of'grooves arranged on, opposite sides of the bar and ex. tending parallel-withthe cutting edges thereof,each groove of eachpair of-grooves being arranged. a fi Xed distance from its adjacent cutting edge. whereby the bar-may be reversibly secured inthe knife groove of the cylinder or concave with a groove of thebar in proper position to. be engaged by a knife retaining means. i

2. In combination with a huller having a cylinder and concave provided with radially,

edgesof said knives abut, a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending grooves provided upon opposite'sides of said-gklliveswithfleach groove arranged a fixed distancegfrom itsf ad; jacent cutting edge, plates arrangedin the OLIVER G. SIMMONS. 

